Sir David Omand presents his new book, “Securing the State” at NATO Headquarters

Sir David Omand, Visiting Professor at the War Studies Department of King's College London, came to NATO on 7 December to talk about his new book “Securing the State”. After the talk, he signed copies of his book at a reception hosted by the NATO Multimedia Library.

Published in the run-up to the NATO Summit in Lisbon on 19 and 20 November, the book looks at the problems governments face in finding the right balance of providing a secure environment for their citizens without impinging on their civil liberties. According to Sir David, former UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator in the Cabinet Office, public security can be considered as "a shared state of mind, a state of confidence that the major risks are sufficiently under control and can be managed so that people can go about their normal life, freely and with confidence".

The book’s subject matter is timely, as Allies agreed on a new Strategic Concept at the Summit to guide NATO activities as it strives to protect its member states’ populations from 21st century threats and challenges.

The book is based on Sir David’s experience in government and has received high acclaim from newspapers such as “The Washington Times” and “The Economist”.

Jonathan Parish from NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division chaired the discussion.